Alleged Messiah hacker 'a flight risk'

Alleged "Messiah" hacker James Raj Arokiasamy should be denied bail - because the last time he was granted it, he fled to Malaysia, prosecutors argued Tuesday.

The 35-year-old had been out on police bail in 2011 pending analysis of his urine for drugs when he failed to report to the Central Narcotics Bureau as required, Deputy Public Prosecutor Wong Woon Kwong told the court.

Not only did he not answer the drug charges, he went on to live in Malaysia for more than two years with "no ostensible difficulty".

"Were it not for the efforts of the Royal Malaysian Police, the accused would still be on the run and safely out of reach from the arm of the law," the prosecution submitted, and said the accused "poses a clear flight risk". "Investigations are also ongoing into other offences that he may have committed while on the run."

A fresh drug charge was also levelled Tuesday against James Raj, who allegedly used the pseudonym "The Messiah" when he hacked into the Ang Mo Kio Town Council website on Oct 28.

It was alleged that he consumed a controlled drug on Nov 4, the day he was arrested by Malaysian police. He now faces four drug charges, on top of one under the Computer Misuse Act for the cyber intrusion.

DPP Wong told the court that the prosecution would be ready to accept a plea on the drug charges next week, while investigations into the cyber intrusion charge were still ongoing.

Previous submissions by the prosecution had said that James Raj was "reasonably suspected as having carried out a series of hacking incidents".